St. Valentine's Day



Another holiday to consider my separation from those I love by distance and circumstance. And yet I also believe, as I am currently listening to “How can I tell you” by Cat Stevens, that God is love and therefore able to unite over such distances and circumstances. I sometimes actually feel the closeness spanning distance and circumstance, but even without the feeling I am comforted in the belief.

Of course the holiday is famous for increasing the sales of greeting cards and candy. This is also true in Ghana. In Nandom I did not see any signs of the commercialism but I traveled through Wa on Friday and saw that many stores had cards, chocolates, and cellophane wrapped gift baskets for sale.

(As a reminder: Nandom is my market town in the upper west portion of the Upper West Region of Ghana. It is a small town in a farming area. Most people are subsistence farmers will little income. There people mainly walk or ride bicycles. There are a handful of private cars in the area. Wa is the regional capital of the Upper West and a lot of people get around on motorcycles and a far number of cars.  There are more salaried jobs in Wa so more money changing hands and thus cute Valentine's day baskets for sale.)

This year I'll simply wish everyone a Happy St. Valentine's day and skip trying to send cards or such in the mail. Maybe next year. I'm relaxing and enjoying the day with a few friends and thinking about family and friends back home. I hope it is good for everyone.

Another package from my mom


Speaking of mail – I forgot to say that I received yet another package from my mom. Thanks!!!  They are always nice.

This one arrived in less the three weeks – incredibly fast. I got a new phone as I'm not sure about the longevity of my current one, plain M&Ms, and other goodies. I'm doing very well with things now and I can't think of anything I really need at this time.

Comfort in the heat


It has begun to get warm in my area. Warm being around 100 during the day and high 80's at night. The hot season has not yet officially arrived. I'm told it will be 20 degrees or more hotter next month so I'll hold off calling the weather hot for now.

Such weather is part of the experience in my region of Ghana, something that people endure, embrace, curse, or brag about. I can work up a sweat just sitting in my room eating breakfast before the sun rises. By the afternoon my metal roof increases the heat in the house. The traditional mud or thatch roofs would be cooler but that requires more maintenance and attracts more bugs.

Working outside in the sun will become something to avoid in the hot season – March and April. I don't have air conditioning or a refrigerator. However, I have several options of cooling off. I've not used all of these options, but I'm spending my time now asking about what I can do. The options include:

Taking more frequent baths. Of course a “bath” involves a bucket of water rather than a bathtub and a small bucket to pour water over myself rather than a shower head with running water. I fetch my water two buckets at a time from a borehole a short distance away from my house. I have a large container to hold water for my immediate use. However, when I take water from this container it can be as hot as the air. I have been told that I'm going to want to fetch water from the borehole and use it directly for my bath to cool off a little. They tell me taking 4 or 5 baths in a day is not unreasonable. To date my record is 3 in one day and I've found out the borehole (well) water is cooler than what is in my barrel.

Sleeping outside. I may be able to set something up to sleep outside in my back patio area. It has a gate and is relatively private. The gate should also prevent the problem of snakes – which I'm told is a risk with sleeping close to the ground. I'll have to figure the bed and the mosquito net, but that should not be overly hard.

Wet two yard. Another option is to take a large piece of cloth, generally two yards long (simply called a “two yard”), soaking it in water, wringing it out, and sleeping under it. I've not tried this yet. Similarly, I have a cooling towel from my brother that I can hang around my neck or over my head during the day. I've used that a couple of time and it was helpful. I'll give future reports on the effectiveness when it gets hotter.

Using the fan. I have a standing fan that I can use when I have electricity. I've been waiting for it to get really hot before I use it, but it does make considerable noise so I might need to use it now or have it on during the day - I can tune out the noise and actually sleep. The one time I tried to sleep with it I turned it off in less than five minutes because of the racket it makes.

Using a clay pot to keep things cooler. They have these clay pots that one wets on the outside so that it will keep the contents cooler. I don't have one yet so I don't know how it will work.

Relaxing. Another suggestion is to relax, find some shade and reduce activities. This should give me more time to pray and contemplate my life and situation. Being present in the moment will allow me to create memories of this time in this different part of the world. Relaxing also allow me to feel close to those who are far away by distance and circumstance.

Circling back


And so I'm back to where I begun this post. This post is shorter by design – hopefully easier to read. I'm also in Tamale to pick up some medicine that was suppose to be shipped to the sub-office and to meet with some volunteers. The trip is going well although I'll have to get the meds mailed to me as they did not arrive. I'll be traveling back to Nandom tomorrow so I'm posting today.



Love always,

John

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